Death's Shadow
by Shini'chi Raine
Summary: A silent breath escaped her; she had mastered breathing silently through her nose, for her job required utter silence as its main weapon. Full Summary Inside. AU-ish. Shinji x FeMC.
1. Chapter 1

_**Death's Shadow**_

_**By Shini'chi Raine**_

_**A/N: **_And finally, another installment in the Persona Series! …Not. This is in an alternate (parallel?) universe, same characters, same place, different setting, different plot; …yay(?) Well, read on!

_**Categories: **_Games/Persona Series

_**Genre(s):**_ Romance/Adventure

_**Rated: **_M – Language, Violence, Sexual Scenes

_**Pairing(s): **_FeMC/Shinjirou, minor FeMC/Akihiko

_**Summary: **_P3P: A silent breath escaped her; she had mastered breathing silently through her nose, for her job required utter silence as its main weapon. Her small dagger moved at lightning speed to slice her target's throat, and paused a bare millimeter from the skin. It was _him_… AU-ish.

_**Disclaimer: **_I do not own _Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable_ or any of its characters. I'm simply borrowing them for my amusement, and as thus, you cannot sue me! Bits and pieces of this are referenced to Brent Weeks's _Night Angel_ trilogy; I do not own his ideas, simply enjoyed the novels and am forever in awe of his writing skills.

_**Chapter Prologue**_

"_Remember: silence, stealth, instant death, escape route… silence, stealth, instant death, escape route…" _

Murmuring under her breath, she repeated the words like a mantra, watching the white thin stream of her breath as it slowly dissipated in the air. Her scarlet eyes glittered in what little light the moon offered despite the black hood she wore to cover her face; it made her eyes appear to glow eerily. The material she wore for her occupation absorbed light and allowed her to melt into the shadows; to fade and become one with them. A signal was made; she blinked, and seemingly vanished. An instant later—perhaps about ten seconds—ten bodies fell to the ground, appearing to simply faint one after the other, one body for each second. The earpiece sounded, vibrating first in her ear and then bits of static, and then a rough, semi-playful, if sarcastic, voice spoke.

"…Well done, Arisato! Return."

She turned away from her work, heart frozen years ago, as she shed not one tear at the dead bodies littering the ground. A Voice sounded in her head, the Voice that had followed her since she was seven years old; it was laced with concern, but she knew better. It was thanks to this… Voice… she had this strange power. This strange ability that gave her the current job she worked. Not that she was self-employed or anything like that; oh no, she was one of many among her kind, but she had reached the top position in less than two months. Many of her kind hated her for it. After the death of her precious one, she vowed to never let anyone close. She smiled coldly as she leaped across rooftops at speeds clearly inhuman. Well, it didn't matter; she had stopped being human a long time ago. The Voice in her head ensured that.

_**Chapter 1: Fool's Way**_

"Arisato! What are you doing?" I froze as a sharp voice pierced the air, and flinched as a red-haired woman—around the same age as myself, if a little older—approached. Her name was Mitsuru Kirijo, the heiress to the prestigious Kirijo group. I worked for them. Of course, my job was a… special job.

"Milady, I am simply writing a report about my… expedition… last night," I replied in a steely voice. The Kirijo heiress and I didn't get along very well; we barely lasted a whole work day without having to grit out teeth not to spit out curse words (okay, well, in my case, I _had_ to do that). She just seemed so uppity all the time because of the money she owned. She wasn't exactly spoiled, considering how her father was, but that didn't mean she wasn't annoying in her own way, either.

Mitsuru had the looks, the intelligence, and even the "brawn" for everything she had going for her. I think I lost count of how many suitors came through the door on a daily basis asking for her hand—of course, they were only after her money, and she herself was simply a "bonus." Unfortunately for them, Mitsuru's way too smart to be stuck with a greedy, incompetent guy. She was simply that, well, fortunate… Unlike me, who her father had picked up off the streets some ten or so years ago after the tragedy of my family; I owed them my very life. …Which, of course, meant that I worked for the Kirijo group.

Bummer.

"Sora, are you listening to me?"

I scrambled out of my thoughts as I returned my attention to Mitsuru, who had apparently been babbling about some nonsense or other. It was hard paying attention to her; while she spoke and gave great speeches, she was still awkward in social situations. Not that I helped any, regardless of that past of ours involving several years of growing up with her. The Voice sounded in my head again, though I blocked it out. I have no use for it at the moment; I have no idea why it continuously tries to plea with me about something or other. How I know it pleads or begs or whatever is beyond me. I just know that I got this "Voice" after the death of my family and my—

"I'm sorry, Mitsuru, what were you saying again?"

I had to stop those thoughts. I swore to never have emotions again; well, rather to have emotions of "caring" ever again. I can still love and care, but probably just friendship. I barely tolerated Mitsuru as it was. Anyway, we had moved off into her private office, so instead of calling her "milady" I switched to "Mitsuru" because she hated that a "childhood friend" (yeah, right) called her "milady" or even "Kirijo" (see, picky and uppity… oi). Mitsuru sighed as she looked at me with eyes of sadness, eyes that I did not want to witness or feel piercing into my being, as if she knew why I was the way I was.

Hmph.

"Get on with it, Mitsuru," I pushed, speaking tiredly. I'd had a late night. The effort put into these nightly expeditions—as _I _liked to call them—could make a girl rather grumpy, and I was pretty grumpy and tired. My mission had involved around ten people, and all had been found guilty and had need to be "executed" as Mitsuru loved to say.

I was their executioner, of course.

"Sora, I wanted to say well done on the case last night. Still, I wish you could have been a little less flashy… my father had a terrible time trying to cover up the mess you left behind."

Oops. I knew I'd forgotten something last night. I sighed and plopped down in one of her comforters that she kept for visitors or guests when they came into her office. Sadly, I was a natural at what I did, and that sometimes scared me more than it scared my employer, Mitsuru's father. I used to play bodyguard to Mitsuru before I was taken away to be trained for my current job. I sighed as she did, and almost grinned… except that I didn't really feel any particular emotion except tiredness. A lot of what I feel is forced, although in my head I know I'm feeling true feelings, no matter how hard I try to block them out. It sucks, but…

I'm still human; I just have a harder time expressing how I feel these days.

"…at my school dorm tomorrow. Pack up and get ready."

I blinked. "Excuse me?" I nearly barked out, incredulous. Mitsuru raised an eyebrow as she started tapping a finger on her desk, a habit she'd picked up to show her frustration whenever she had trouble conveying to anyone who apparently hadn't listened well enough.

"You heard me, Arisato—" I flinched again; I hated it when she referred to me by last name, "—I said that my father wants you to come to Gekkoukan High, where I go to school. He's moving you to the dorm I will go to live in during the semester. You'll be enrolled as a junior there. As such, you'll be moving into that exact school dorm tomorrow."

If I wasn't already having problems expression emotions, I'd probably gape at her. "Wh—" I started, but she held up a hand. "No, I'm not hearing any questions, Sora. If it makes you feel better, Akihiko will be there."

I wilted. Years ago, I'd had a crush on a guy named Sanada Akihiko. He was an orphan, like me, and had known Mitsuru for just a bit longer than I had. That crush had died off, however, when _he _had come into my life. _He_ was Akihiko's best friend and practically brother… if it weren't for _him_, I think I wouldn't be having as much trouble doing what I do…

"Oh yes, one more thing, Sora."

I waved a hand loftily to let Mitsuru know I was listening.

"You have one more case tonight, and your target is…"

I sat up and sighed. "What now?"

"_That_ guy. The one we've been hunting down for a while now. We got him, and you, Sora, are going to execute him."

Mitsuru offered me a folder and as I took it to read it, I could only frown. The picture was blurred, showing the skillfulness of the target to avoid having his face seen clearly, but it was, no doubt, the guy who the Kirijo group had been trying to find for months. I'd only had one run-in with this guy, but I hadn't really done much about it, seeing as he hadn't been my target at the time.

Grumbling, I stood up and nodded stiffly.

"Done."

I left without waiting for Mitsuru to dismiss me. I had a lot of things to do to be prepared for my target tonight. He was going to be tough, but I'm sure I can get him "executed."

I didn't know it at the time, but he'd be my last target to have survived my nightly jobs.

[Persona 3 Portable]

He grunted as his friend the boxing champion punched him hard. "Are you stupid!" the teen shouted. "What made you think it was smart to get involved!" Akihiko Sanada glowered as he growled down at his best friend who was currently nursing a soon-to-be _very_ bruised cheek.

"Seriously, Aki, you have to learn to control your damn punches. And I didn't get involved on purpose, you know that. It was the only way. Mitsuru asked me, you know. For her."

"But… you know, she… and…!"

He stood carefully, moving to a distance where Akihiko couldn't punch him, and sighed. "Look, Aki. I said I would. And… you know. It's for her, not for Mitsuru."

"Fine. Just… argh, fine!"

He knew that Akihiko also held feelings for her—their childhood friend who was not Mitsuru—but so did he. They both loved her so deeply, but she had chosen him over Akihiko. It was his job to protect her. If something happened to him, Akihiko would be there for her. But he had promised a long time ago he wouldn't abandon her.

Too bad he'd broken that exact promise.

"C'mon, we gotta get you ready. Mitsuru's texting me non-stop here."

He shook his head and grunted again as he nursed his cheek. Why had Aki have to choose boxing of all things? Well, he supposed it didn't matter. Right now, what mattered was _her_. He could only sigh to himself as he followed his best friend back to their school dorm.

[Persona 3 Portable]

I managed to fight back a soft sound of surprised as I accidentally slipped and lost my footing. The Voice chimed in again, trying to tell me about something, but I ignored it. It was only useful when I used the powers it gave me. For now, I used it to increase my speed and fix my grip as I ran across the rooftops. I soon spotted the building of where my target was, noting each window.

The one thing that surprised me was that the building was the same dorm I'd be moving into tomorrow afternoon, but I didn't bother to question why it was this particular building. For all I knew it could be some asshole who snuck in trying to peek at the girls or whatever. Well, he deserved to die for that! I smirked as I changed my grip, landing lightly to avoid gaining attraction. I only had one target tonight, which was also surprising, but hey, it was _that_ guy, so whatever.

I skillfully unlocked the window leading to the room where the target was supposedly staying, tiptoeing carefully as I shut the window, but kept it unlocked. I blinked, using my powers to adjust my eyesight to the darkness, and I found my target asleep in bed, as promised. I waited to see if he would wake up or in general make any movement that might cause him to wake up, but nothing happened after about ten minutes. I withdrew my blade with practiced ease and silence and approached the quiet target, soon to be silenced forever.

[Persona 3 Portable]

He tried to even his breath as well as not move, almost missing the sound of the lock on his window because he was concentrating so hard. He strained his ears trying to listen for light footsteps or even the silent sound of air from someone breathing, but after the window had been shut, he couldn't hear a thing. He closed his eyes, managing to feel a presence he had also nearly missed, trying to pretend he was asleep.

_Come on… come on… What are you waiting for! _

He let out a silent breath, trying to calm his beating heart. She would move soon; she was highly trained and the fact that Mitsuru had been spreading fake rumors about him would've attracted her to him sooner or later. But she was just taking so _long…_

[Persona 3 Portable]

A silent breath escaped her; she had mastered breathing silently through her nose, for her job required utter silence as its main weapon. Her small dagger moved at lightning speed to slice her target's throat, and paused a bare millimeter from the skin. It was _him_…

She froze; eyes wide. _It couldn't… it shouldn't… why!_

She sheathed her blade as she backed up slowly. Her target shifted, moving slowly, as if he was scared she would bolt out the window as he sat up on the bed.

Lucky for him, she was frozen to the spot, trembling though he couldn't see it through the outfit she wore. In fact, save for the fact that he knew she was there, he couldn't even see her to start with. But that odd blob in the darkness told him where she was.

He reached out a hand, and she finally spoke.

"_Shinjirou…_"

[Persona 3 Portable]

_**A/N: **_(takes a deep breath and sighs) Phew, the preview of the chapter's finally finished! Good grief, I had so much trouble with this story—and the chapter itself—and just ARGH! Hahaha. Review, please!

**Chapter 2 Preview**

"Why are you here!"

"For you, that's why. I promised, didn't I?"

"You _broke_ that promise! I thought you were… you were…!"

"No. I told you, I promised…"

**End Preview**

_**A/N: **_ ;) Hope to see you next chapter! Later!


	2. Chapter 2

_**Death's Shadow**_

_**By Shini'chi Raine**_

_**A/N: **_Chapter 2 is finally here! Sorry for the delay; I meant to upload this a little while ago but I've been distracted with school and drowning in reading a multitude of textbooks... In the meantime, my muse died somewhat and I had to figure out how I wanted the story to develop in this chapter. I noticed so many errors in the first chapter; apologies for that! I'm still working on polishing my writing, so please bear with me. (On the plus side this chapter's a little longer.) Read on!

_**Summary: **_P3P: A silent breath escaped her; she had mastered breathing silently through her nose, for her job required utter silence as its main weapon. Her small dagger moved at lightning speed to slice her target's throat, and paused a bare millimeter from the skin. It was _him_… AU-ish.

_**Disclaimer: **_I do not own _Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable_ or any of its characters. I'm simply borrowing them for my amusement, and as thus, you cannot sue me! Bits and pieces of this are referenced to Brent Weeks's _Night Angel_ trilogy; I do not own his ideas, simply enjoyed the novels and am forever in awe of his writing skills.

Fervour – LOL thank you. I hope you enjoy my fanfiction as much as you enjoyed the trilogy by Brent Weeks.

Deidara'sgirl - Good to see you again for another one of my fanfictions. I'm hoping I don't just suddenly lose the data/idea for this story (as I've lost so many others) and will be able to finish a chapter-based story for once. Hope you enjoy this one as well. :)

_**Chapter Prologue**_

Though he watched the event in a dim room not too far away, he still grimaced. He thought it was completely unfair, of course. But he knew he would never have that same affection he longed for despite the fact he met her first. He wanted to punch something, trying to bury the single thought that had entered his mind when she had broken into the room.

_I hope she really kills him_.

He had dwelled on that thought for a few years, despite all his efforts to bury it at the back of his mind, ever since he discovered where she had been, and what she'd been doing. The screen flashed with the reflection of the blade she had drawn only to disappear once more at her realization. Though he only watched from afar…

_He should've been dead._

Those precious few years ago when they had all discovered the Secret; but with the discovery of the Secret, he had lost two precious people—his best friend, and the girl who he had hoped one day to be his. They both had returned to his life suddenly… he blamed the Kirijo group most of all. If not for them, he would still have his best friend and the girl—now young woman—and life would be all right.

He glared at the screen once more. No, no he wouldn't have gotten the woman at all. It turned out his best friend and his secret love had hidden feelings for each other, though he'd spent more time with the ruby-eyed beauty. When had that happened? How? He had hung out with the both of them regularly, and many times they hung out together on their own, as well.

He focused on the screen again, watching it with a concentration only a skilled fighter could, following the sudden rapid movements. He wanted his thoughts to disappear, but he hoped, in the back of his mind, she would kill him. Then he could have her to himself. He had loved her longer, known her longer, known her first, and been there for her, so why did he feel like crying?

_For your sake, don't kill him. For my sake, don't kill him. For our sake… _**don't kill him.**

_**Chapter 2: Magician's Illusion**_

His hand reached out agonizingly slowly, and at the movement, I couldn't stop myself. I spoke his name; the name I swore to keep hidden deep within my heart, since _that_ incident. He was the same; well, not essentially the _same_, just older, possibly more mature, but handsome as always. He also held an expression I hadn't seen since his disappearance.

His _death_, I had been told.

It was that tender expression of his that made me lash out. He grunted in surprise as he dodged barely a centimeter from my blade, and I growled. I wasn't trying to kill him, but geez… I wonder if I'm imagining things. Did Mitsuru set this up to screw with my head? Bad enough I had the Voice going off in my head, now this! While I attacked him blindly, he slipped past me somehow and had wrapped his arms around me, paralyzing me. I blinked, shocked to feel a wetness on my face. _I was crying_. I hadn't cried in _years_. Not since… not since _his disappearance._

"Why…" I mumbled, so shocked, so disoriented. He wasn't holding me tightly; he didn't need to. I had frozen from the first intimate contact I'd had since we were kids. And to think… he'd been the last one to hug me, and now he was the first to hug me since that time.

"Why are you here!" I finally demanded, breaking out of my reverie, trying to ignore the feel of his still muscular arms, the safety they gave me, the warmth, the… No!

"For you, that's why. I promised, didn't I?" His gruff, deep voice floated softly into my ear, his breath wafting in a ticklish way. No! No, don't give in! I don't do emotions; I stopped feeling years ago! My heart is frozen. I shut my eyes, battling back and forth between reality and dream. This had to be a dream… no, a nightmare; yes, a nightmare. A random thought flitted through my head as I wondered why he was wearing a pea coat and a beanie, but the thought was filtered away as useless.

"You _broke_ that promise! I thought you were… you were…!" I whispered hoarsely.

He growled—like he always did when he was annoyed—and tightened his hold on me slightly. Then he sighed, and breathed in deeply, as if he himself thought he was dreaming. Attuned to my surroundings as I was, I was—at the back of my mind—aware that we were being watched. By whom, I assumed it would be Mitsuru, because only Mitsuru had the ability to do this.

Only Mitsuru would know the truth, and to reveal him to me after all these miserable years—

_Shut. Up._

The Voice paused in its prodding of telling me everything would be okay. No; leave me alone! You are a tool, you stupid Voice! You're nothing more than a means to an end—

"No."

I blinked. Was Shinjirou reading my mind?

"I told you; I promised that I would never leave your side. I don't break my promises. I never left you, Sora."

I squeezed my eyes shut. He needed to let me go. I needed to get out of here; away from this place. Let me go, let me go, let me go…

"That incident, when I disappeared, it was because we got separated when we were running from the explosions. I got knocked out, and Mitsuru's dad ordered a search team to search the destroyed lab, and they found and dug me out of the debris. I was hurt real bad, Sora… and I lost my memories for a while… but during the time I lost my memories, the one thing I remembered was my promise to you.

"Of course, it was a promise to a person I couldn't picture the face of, until Mitsuru gave me your picture, and my memories came rushing back. I'm not letting you out of my sight—I watched you from far away, because Mitsuru had told you I was dead. She told Aki I was dead. It made me hate her."

Hell, it made _me_ hate her even more. I already didn't like her—even though I used to like her, but not anymore—and this… this… Why was I giving in? Why was I struggling and fighting not to believe him? He was lying! But why would he lie? Wait—

"So you're the mystery man Mitsuru claims the Kirijo group has been having trouble with."

"…Heh… is that what she said? Well, I guess I _can_ be annoying…"

His hold on me loosened, though he still didn't let me go. Why won't he release me? I mean, yes, I can definitely get out of his grip, but only… only Shinjirou makes me weak. He's my…

"…go." I mumbled, stopping my train of thought.

"What?"

"I said, let me go!" I finally shouted, surprising him so much he _did_ let go. He seemed to realize his mistake, though, because I turned around to look at him, eyes filled with tears as I dashed towards the window. He called after me and tried to stop me, but it was too late.

I escaped and fled into the night.

_Shinjirou…_

[Persona 3 Portable]

"Dammit! Dammit, shit, fuck, dammit! _Dammit!_ I was so close!"

Akihiko sighed as he sat waiting for Shinjirou to stop cursing and punching the poor chair his best friend was currently abusing. In a way the boxing champion found it relieving to know that Sora hadn't killed his best friend, but at the same time he resented the fact that she didn't outright reject Shinjirou. Of course, Akihiko knew that they still carried feelings for each other, and he had no way of getting in-between… or having Sora's affections, either. Knowing Shinjirou like he did, Akihiko could bet that his best friend hadn't meant to develop feelings for her, and likewise, for a while he swore Sora had crushed on him, but maybe it was just his imagination.

…And now he realized why he cared so much for her, it was already too late.

"…Shinji, Mitsuru will kill you if you break another chair…"

"Shut up!"

Akihiko sighed as he gave up. A pissed off Shinjirou would take a while to calm down, and he doubted getting into fist fight would do much… although… that was a thought. He ran a hand through his silver hair—he wasn't sure why he had silver hair, though he was quite young—and glanced at the male brunette who had collapsed on the sofa across the room. The chair had splinters in all different places, but luckily—Akihiko was glad to see—the chair was still usable for sitting.

"…Done?"

"…Whatever, Aki."

"…Well, you know, she's supposed to come back here tomorrow…?"

"…_What!_"

Oops; guess Mitsuru still loved to hide secrets and surprises. _Must run in the Kirijo family; they love secrets too much_, he thought to himself. The silver-haired teen watched as the brunette scowled and glare at the ceiling. Akihiko wasn't sure if he should feel sorry for his best friend or sneer at him in a "you-deserved-it!" kind of way. He was looking forward to tomorrow; Shinjirou would be busy with some mission Mitsuru had given him, but he, Akihiko… he would get to see Sora first.

Okay, so he had asked—no, _begged_—Mitsuru to let him have the chance to see the pretty, red-eyed girl. Akihiko felt it was his chance to get closer to Sora and increase his chances of being seen as a "man" and not just a "brother" or "friend." He was sure Sora had seen him as that at one point, but he wasn't so sure anymore considering how deeply in love she had been with Shinji.

_...Dammit._

He scowled at his best friend who was too busy scowling at the ceiling. Why did Shinjirou always get what he wanted even though the brunette never tried to get what he wanted? He shut his eyes as a tense silence fell in the room.

_Great. Just… great._

[Persona 3 Portable]

Shinjirou had noticed that Akihiko had been treating him with a bit of coldness than before. He wondered if it had to do with Sora and immediately mentally hit his head against a brick wall. Of _course_ it had to do with Sora. Akihiko was _in love_ with the girl, but so was he. Even though he had tried to push her away, she had forced her way into his heart and eventually he gave in to his own feelings.

_Damn these feelings._

He groaned and fell back on his bed. He'd come up to his room after the thick silence in the lounge had finally gotten to be too much. The only thing good about tonight was the fact that he had finally held Sora in his arms; finally, after all these long years staying off the "map" and pretending he wasn't alive—stupid Kirijo red-head!—he had her.

Of course, he had expected her rejection; she had thought him dead, after all. Still, even though he expected it, it hurt to see her leave him just like that. He had her in his arms—she had felt so good in his arms—and after surprising him with her words, took off. And he had a mission he had to do for the Kirijo group tomorrow, so he wouldn't see her until months later.

_Damn you, Mitsuru!_

He wasn't sure what the red-head heiress was planning, but he wanted to be here at the dorm and spend as much time as he could with Sora. After tonight, Sora would think he was a dream—or nightmare, as it were—and all because he couldn't be here. The mission he'd been given would take months, and it was all for the Secret.

It was thanks to that damned Secret that he'd been considered dead all these years! He scowled up at the ceiling and then sighed. Well, there wasn't anything he could do; he could probably delay doing the mission and greet Sora tomorrow… Which, of course, meant he would have to sleep now so he could wake up early enough to convince the Kirijo heiress to let him have one more day.

…Yeah, he would do that.

[Persona 3 Portable]

I woke up abruptly and sat upright so fast I almost cracked my neck. I looked at my clock and groaned. I'd woken up a half an hour earlier than I'd wanted to, not to mention I'd had a late night! I cursed to myself as I got out of bed and got ready to move into the school dorm. Today was the day I would move into Mitsuru's school dorm and then the following day would begin school. Some mission this was turning out to be; I hadn't been to school since my family's death.

The Voice chimed in but I ignored it. I was forever ignoring the Voice; again, the only time I bothered to really listen was when I needed to use the powers it gave me. I wasn't sure why I had this ability; I actually don't remember if I had the Voice before or after the incident with the Secret. After I was dressed, I walked over to my window and looked out.

I was in the upper floors of the Kirijo mansion, overlooking one of many giant gardens of the Kirijo estate. I wasn't the only one who lived here, of course, but the mansion—as big as it was—often made me feel as if I was the only living here. The sky was slowly turned blue as the stars winked out one by one. I sighed.

"…Quit dragging things out and let's do this," I muttered to myself.

Time to pack.

[Persona 3 Portable]

Mitsuru and Akihiko were discussing the plan in the school hall that involved getting Sora and Shinjirou back together—Akihiko being reluctant, but he knew better—when someone bumped into Akihiko. Akihiko managed to stabilize his balance at the last second and straightened himself whereas the young man with a blue baseball cap, whom both Mitsuru and Akihiko could both now see, had fallen to the ground backwards.

"Ouch! Uh, sorry about that, sempai!" He apologized, looking embarrassed.

Akihiko helped the young man up as he shook his head. Mitsuru simply chuckled quietly behind a hand as the young man thanked Akihiko for helping him up.

"Just watch where you're going next time, Junpei."

"Yeah, sorry about that!"

The young man was about to leave when Mitsuru stopped him.

"Iori, we have an important guest coming to our dorm; make sure you're there this evening."

The young man named Junpei gave Mitsuru a confused look but nodded. Akihiko sighed to himself. They had to go around and recruit all the people who'd gotten involved with the Secret, even those who were indirectly exposed, like Junpei. It was going to be a pain in the ass, but well worth it when all the members saw just who exactly the special guest was tonight.

A ringtone sounded in the air and Akihiko turned to see Mitsuru talking on her cell phone with a strained expression. He raised an eyebrow, but Mitsuru ignored him and continued to talk in quiet but firm tones. He couldn't quite hear her since she'd walked a bit away, and then he realized why she seemed frustrated. It was Shinjirou calling—probably about Sora and her move into the dorm.

He frowned and looked away.

_I wanted her to myself later tonight, too. Mitsuru's probably going to let him delay his mission._

Just as he predicted, Mitsuru gave in with a sigh right before she shut her phone. The Kirijo heiress walked back over until she was an arm's length away and rubbed her temples. He looked back towards the red-head and waited, knowing what she was going to say even though he'd begged in private for her to sent Shinjirou away for a while—yes, Shinjirou's mission had been his idea.

He just wanted to have Sora to himself—that wasn't too much to ask, right? Yeah, he knew he was being selfish, but—

"Sorry, Akihiko, but it looks like Shinjirou's not leaving till tomorrow. I know you requested this because you're also in love with Arisato but—"

He shook his head and turned to leave, calling back over his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, Mitsuru. See you tonight."

[Persona 3 Portable]

I sighed to myself as I glanced at the clock on my mp3 player. I narrowed my eyes and glanced up at the sky. I guess it made sense that it would take me all day to pack, even if I woke up at 5:30 in the morning. I hated these long days. It was midnight, and here I was, standing in front the dorm of Gekkoukan High. It loomed before me eerily at this hour, but then again, everything a midnight was always very… eerie and creepy.

I sighed to myself again as my gaze landed on the dorm's doors. I didn't want to touch those doors. In fact, one could definitely say I loathed it. I admit that I partially had wanted to delay my trip here as much as possible, but Mitsuru would _kill_ me if I delayed till the next day. Hell, I didn't want to come here. I was happy to have stayed out of school. With school, it meant I would be overly busy and I refused. Mitsuru would just call me pathetic.

Damn her.

I groaned quietly to myself and reached for one of the door handles, only for a door to, surprise surprise, open on its own. Yay. Now the dorm was even creep—

"So are you coming in or not? You've been standing there for fifteen minutes."

I stared at the person who had spoken, swearing to myself I was still dreaming.

_WHY. WAS. JUNPEI. HERE!_

I glowered at him and he took it in stride, giving me a slightly amused look as he held the door open, raising an eyebrow.

Damn him.

"…" I dragged my luggage with me inside, giving him another scathing look, where he grinned and put his hands up in mock surrender. There were moments I hated him, but I knew I never could truly hate him—Iori Junpei, womanizer-to-be, and possibly the only other guy to get through my defenses with his stupid brown-nosing.

He amused me and I hated him for making me feel.

"Why are you here?" I finally snapped.

"I heard you were coming here, that's why!"

"…It was Misturu, wasn't it?"

"…Okay, you got me there."

I sighed and punched him lightly on the arm. I first met Junpei a couple of years ago in a small, popular café in some mall. He had approached me when I was, startlingly, on a break from my usual missions and day-job I did with the Kirijo Company. He had began by asking my name, and then proceeded to flirt, and no matter how cold I acted, no matter how hard I tried to ignore him, he'd gotten through.

I had to give him credit for his strange stubbornness.

"Please tell me the others aren't here, too!" I groaned out loud when he laughed, clapping me lightly on the back.

Only Junpei saw my playful side.

"You know Mitsuru-senpai's here, and Akihiko-senpai…"

The baseball cap wearing teen trailed off and I instantly knew he was hiding something. I leveled a death glare at him and he flinched, sweating.

"Who else?"

"…S-Shinjirou-senpai…"

Funny how the people I was involved all knew each other.

"…Yo."

I looked up at the sound of an extremely familiar voice. Mitsuru and Akihiko were also in the room, but I ignored them. They had zero importance and the one who took precedence was the man I swore was simply my imagination last night.

"You…"

Junpei coughed and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, ignoring the glares of Shinjirou and Akihiko as he grinned broadly. I sighed and slumped. They were still hiding something from me.

"…Junpei, who _else_ is here?"

He grinned broadly and pointed. My eyes followed his finger until they landed on a younger teen. I groaned again, softly. Junpei squeezed my shoulders subtly and I once again found myself appreciative of his support. No wonder he topped the spot of best friend.

Of course, I admitted to myself that at one point I'd actually might've crushed a little on Junpei, _but_ for the most part he was immature and—

"Hello, Ken," I found myself saying, smiling slightly at the younger teen. The boy blushed lightly and smiled back, nodding and staying quiet. Though he was younger than the rest of us by two years, he was mature and… Junpei's opposite. It was quite funny to see the two of them playing video games together. I met Ken not long after I met Junpei, but that was because Junpei had _dragged_ me out to the arcade. He had demanded with constant texting, and I finally gave in, and that was where I met Amada Ken.

I looked at the clock on my mp3 player again, and wondered if someone was laughing at me. I was being reunited, slowly, with people I had met over the years. I just prayed the _girls_ I'd met over the years wouldn't be here when I woke up the next morning to prepare for school.

"…Arisato, your things should be in your room—"

"…Sora, I'll show you where your room is—"

"…Oi, I'll take you to your room—"

"Sora-san, I can show you where your room—"

"Shut. Up."

Everyone fell silent and looked at me with guarded expressions and I looked pointedly at Shinjirou. He owed me a _huge_ explanation and if I lost sleep it wouldn't matter. I would sleep during class—and of course, since I was brought up with Mitsuru, I wouldn't be able to fail if I tried.

Junpei let go of me as if I was on fire when Shinjirou approached, and I walked past him, towards the stairs, and waited. Shinjirou gave me an amused if annoyed look and nodded to the others, bidding them a good night.

It was going to be a _long_ night.

[Persona 3 Portable]

_**A/N: **_Okay, long, tedious, and boring chapter with clues all over it. I hope people can figure out what I'm planning because I'm still sketchy with details but now I know how I want the story to go and how it will end. :D

This time, I beg everyone, _**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**_

**Chapter 3 Preview**

It was times like this she really, _really_ hated her life.

"This can't be happening."

"It's happening."

"You knew all this time!"

"…Well…"

"YOU KNEW!"

"At least _you_ have your memories figured out now. About time."

"I can't _believe_ this…!"

**End Chapter Preview**


	3. Insert Chapter

_**Insert Chapter: "Dreaming"**_

_**By Shini'chi Raine**_

_**A/N: **_As I'm still working on making sure chapter 3 is long and action-y and all that lovely stuff, here's a small chapter to give more solidity to the actual story itself. X3 Enjoy!

_**Side-note: **_As my class has been focusing on poetry and because I love poetry, I've been practicing my poetry writing skills—so here's a bit more practice for me, but I'm not very good. [sigh] I hope you all like it anyway. :3

[Persona 3 Portable]

At midnight, I dream of velvet.

I dream of an old crow-like man

And his blue-clad assistants.

I dreamt of a chair of sapphire blue

Watching the old crow-like man

Playing with face cards of glass.

I reach for them and a startled cry

Flees my lips with sounds

Of breaking glass that

Rings through my ears.

The dream of velvet blue

Vanishes.

A bright blue door shuts.

I wake with subconscious

Memory

And shadows of sleep escape.

[Persona 3 Portable]

Her eyes fly open,

Finding darkness.

She panics

But I do nothing.

She adopts a

Despairing look.

Darkness is her

Enemy.

But I am the Moon.

I want to shine as

Hope.

She does not see

For the black

Hides me.

I reach a hand

To help.

She still doesn't

See.

But then, she is a

Fool.

[Persona 3 Portable]

_**A/N: **_Okay, this is a sort of prelude to chapter 3. XD I hope you all enjoyed it! The people the poems are about are pretty obvious, but if some of you don't know who it is, I left enough for you to know anyway. Heheh. Now back to work on chapter 3. X-x


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